Tank



July 3, 1923.

A. S. COOPER TANK Filed Dec. 15 1921 INVENTOI? S3 l WITNESSES g'f% 4W1?A NOR/VH8 Patented July 3, 1923.

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Application filed. December 13, 1921. Serial No. 522,099.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known'that I, ARTHUR S. COOPER, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Santa Monica. in the county of Los Angeles and Stateof California, have-invented a new and Improved Tank, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in tanks for the storage of oilor other liquids which are lighter than water.

An object of the invention is to provide a bottomless tank of thischaracter partly submerged in a body of water so that it will be in aconvenient position for storage of fuel oil.

A further object is to provide such a tank in which the oil level ismaintained at constant height by the surrounding body of water, and atank which will be simple and practical in construction, durable andciticient in use and comparatively inexpensive to construct.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certainnovel features of construction and combinations and. arrangements ofparts as will be more fully hereinafter described. and pointed out inthe claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view with parts broken away and in section.for clearness, showing one of my improved tanks in ap plied position;

Figure 2 is a view in section through the tank illustrating amodification; and

Figure 3 is a similar view illustrating an other modification.

Referring in detail to Figure 1 of the drawings, it will be seen that Iprovide a circular series of piles 1 driven into the bed 2 of a body ofwater 3. Brackets 4 are secured to a submerged portion of the piles. Myimproved tank comprises a cylindrical open ended body such as 5, whichfits within the circular series of piles and is supported upon thebrackets and has its upper end projecting above the surface of thewater. This body may be formed from one or more sheets of metal havingtheir edges overlapping or joined together in any approved manner, asindicated at 6.

7 represents a floating cover fitting within the tank and provided withopenings such as 8, to accommodate inlet and outlet pipes 9 and 10respectively. It will be apparent that when oil is poured into the tankthrough the inlet pipe 9, it will displace the water which is in thetank, the water being forced out through the lower end of the tank andsince the oil is lighter than water, no oil will escape. As the oil ispumped out of the tank, the water pressure from underneath willconstantly maintain the oil level in the tank at a slightly greaterheight than the water level outside, due to the clifterence in specificgravities of the two fluids. Any suitable pumping apparatus (not shown)may be utilized to remove oil. The floating cover prevents evaporationand the entrance of foreign'matter through the top of the tank and thepiles prevent lateral movement or sinking of the tank.

In Figure 2, I have illustrated a slight modification which may be usedwhere tanks are constructed in bodies of water having a periodicallyvarying depth. In Figure 2, the reference numeral 11 represents the tankand 12 represents one of the piles. Instead of securing a bracket to thepile as shown in Figure 1. the tank is supported upon a chain 13 securedto the top of the pile and any suitable hoisting apparatus, designatedby the reference numeral 14: may be utilized for manually raising thetank in case the body of water by which the tank is surrounded rises toa threatening level.

Figure 3 illustrates another modification, wherein a stationary cover 15is substituted for the floating cover 7.

These tanks may be constructed in rivers, lakes, bays, or any other bodyof water in which the currents are not too great. The water pressure onthe outside of such tanks tends to prevent a leakage of oil through thejoints between the plates forming the tank so that they will provehighly efficient in use and that there will be absolutely no loss ofoil.

Although I have illustrated certain of the preferred embodiments of myinvention, it will be evident that various slight changes andalterations might be made in the general form and arrangement of theparts described without departing from the invention, and hence I do notwish to limit myself to the precise details set forth, but shallconsider myself at liberty to make such slight changes and. alterationsas fairly fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

5 1. An oil tank including an open ended the casing to prevent lateraldisplacement,

thereof, and a floating cover positioned in 10 one end of said casing.

2. An oil tank including an open ended casing adapted to be partiallysubmerged in a fluid, a floating cover movable in one of the open endsof said casing and means exteriorly of said casing for preventinglateral displacement thereof and for limiting the vertical movementthereof in one I direction.

ARTHUR S. COOPER.

